June 23 in LGBTQ History

1894: Alfred Kinsey, biologist and pioneer in the study of human sexuality, is born.

1912: Alan Turing, the father of modern computing and breaker of the Nazi Enigma code is born. 40 years later he is convicted of “gross indecency” by the very government he loyally served and dies by suicide two years after that.

1952: After an unprecedented campaign that includes the first use of fliers by a homophile group and extensive fundraising to pay legal fees, the Citizens Committee to Outlaw Entrapment declares “a great victory”: the case against Dale Jennings, who acknowledges his homosexuality but pleads innocent to charges of “lewd and dissolute behavior,” is dropped when the jury falls to reach a verdict after 36 hours of deliberation.

1976: The FBI confirms that it has been keeping domestic surveillance files on The Advocate.

2011: A Washington County, Maryland judge rules that one member of a same-sex couple legally married in Washington, D. C. may invoke spousal privilege and refuse to testify against her spouse in a criminal case.